Finding Truth Behind Legends
by Wizardtho
Chapter 04:
It’s been over an hour with no word from Taha Aki or the pack. At first I try to bake away my worry, but when I destroy two batches of pie dough, I give up.
I somehow find myself in Gran Hurit’s medicine room, going through a journal labeled ‘Healing’ as I correlate each jar or bottle on the shelves to its recipe of individual elements. It calms my mind some... allows me to concentrate on something useful, knowing this could potentially help someone in need.
I find several that look promising, but the dates on them have long ago passed. Noting the recipes, I start loading a nearby tray with the ingredients needed, thankful that the pack have been saving me all the useful bits while cleaning up the garden. It takes me three trips from the medicine room to the kitchen, but I finally have all of the ingredients needed for each recipe sorted on the kitchen island. I make one final trip to the medicine room for a stack of nesting double boilers in different sizes.
I start by making 4 types of infused oil, slow simmering different herbs and oils in the double boilers. The whole main floor is soon a cacophony of aromas that seem to calm my frazzled nerves. I smile as I settle easily into this new routine, feeling deep down that this is what I’m meant to do now.
Carefully straining all the infused liquid from the herbs at the 3 hour mark, I return the oils back to their boilers. Shea butter, beeswax, kaolin clay, essential oils, and other ingredients get mixed into their perspective pots, and I hum while alternately mixing each as the butters, beeswax and clay incorporate smoothly.
It’s just as I turn off the last burner that I hear a loud knock coming from near the great room. I spin around quickly, only to see Greg and Zander carrying a bloody and dirt-crusted white wolf in their arms. With a gasp, I rush to the french doors, opening them wide while hurrying them into the house.
“Why didn’t you take him to a healer?! What the fuck, Zander? Has he been bitten?” I screamed, my heart hammering out of my chest in worry for this magnificent wolf.
He growled slightly as the wolf struggled in their arms, then offered, “No, not bitten, but he’s bleeding pretty badly. The wounds need to be cleaned well and stitched before his body will take over. He wouldn’t let us take him to the healer. He only let us carry him back after we promised him we’d bring him to you… only you. Please, little coyote. Use your instincts and help him.”
Looking over Taha Aki carefully, I’m even more worried. He has a long diagonal gash down his underbelly, several smaller ones, and looks like he is losing way more blood than he should. I gasped in shock, then barked at the two coyotes, “Zander, go to the medicine room. On the right side of the room, I labeled a shelf for healing. Grab the medicated thread, the bottle of antiseptic liquid, as much gauze as you can carry, and the two tins of salve farthest to the right. Now!”
He hurries off as Greg lays Taha Aki down in the open space between the dining room and kitchen. I continue, not finished yet as I drop to my knees in front of the injured behemoth of a wolf, “Greg, in the closet of the master bedroom… straight in front of you as you open the door… grab the whole stack of towels. In the top drawer of the vanity in the master bathroom, grab the sewing kit. Bring them to me. Go!”
Zander is just coming back as I finish, so I order him, “Get in the kitchen, because these salves might not work. I was making new ones from Gran Hurit’s recipes while I waited for word. Pour them from the pots into the tins I have lined up on the bar. Just like they are ordered on the stove… front left to front left, back right to back right… and don’t let the liquids mix. If they start to settle before you get them poured, heat them on low until the liquid is no longer cloudy. Make sure the black salve is done first and placed in the freezer to help solidify it. As soon as you have a clear burner, boil me some water in the largest pot from the cupboard next to the stove. Do not use the pots the salve mixtures are in.”
I turn to Greg, who’s waiting for more direction as I start to grab towels to staunch the blood flow, “There’s a big hook shaped needle in there. I need a long strand of the medicated thread doubled, threaded into that needle, and hand me the bottle of antiseptic.”
He quickly does as ordered, then I look deeply into Taha Aki’s pained eyes. “This will burn like hell. I’m sorry, but I need to clean your wounds before I can attempt to stitch you closed. For whatever reason, you chose me to do this. Please… for fuck’s sake... don’t bite me for causing you more pain.”
I look to Greg quickly as I send up a silent prayer to the ancestors, “Don’t waste time going to the woods… back up to a safe distance in here, then phase. I need some way of communication between him and me. If there’s something I’m doing that’s harming him, growl at me. I’ll try to ask you only yes or no questions, but I need your help. I don’t know his body language yet.”
He shakes his head, yelling for Zander, then explains, “I’ll take Zander’s place in the kitchen. Sorry, little coyote, but I’m not alpha… not strong enough. I don’t have the discipline yet, to handle being in an alpha mind in this state.”
He quickly turns to his alpha, who is bringing in a large pot of steaming water and a hot pad. Quickly explaining what I need, Zander nods to Greg, “Gotcha. Go handle the kitchen, and call the others in. I want this house surrounded until he’s well enough to move on his own.”
With that, Zander backs toward the entry several paces, then phases with a loud snarl. He shakes his head as I quickly drop a towel in the hot water, then a pained look contorts his features. He drops down to lay at the head of the white wolf, then whines slightly while giving me a pleading sort of look. I nod, “I know. I’ll do everything I can. Just stay where you are so I can see you while not stepping on you. Prepare him. I need to use the towel I just dunked in the water, then the antiseptic… both will hurt.”
I quickly wring out the towel, not really even noticing how hot it is on my bare hands, then replace the blood soaked towel with the hot one. Taha Aki lets out a yowl, but Zander nods at me. I take that as my sign to continue, carefully using the edges of the towel to clean up his underbelly as much as possible.
Any debris is carefully picked out with the tweezers from the sewing kit. By the time I’m done and have the antiseptic in hand, Greg is back. He takes the blood soaked towels straight toward the laundry, then comes back to kneel next to me. “What can I do?”
I can only say in a shaky tone, “Hold him still,” before taking a deep breath and pouring a liberal amount of antiseptic liquid on his underbelly, paying the most attention to the largest wound. As expected, Taha Aki squirms and lets out an agonizing string of yowls, but it’s Zander’s actions that have me halting my movements.
He leans in and sniffs along the wounds, growls deeply, huffs out a breath, then snarls while looking at Greg. Greg’s eyes go wide, then he hurriedly says, “Shit. That black salve. Will it draw stuff out of the wounds? Is it that type?”
I nod, then he rushes to kitchen. He comes back, practically shoving the tins at me, explaining, “Venom, Little Coyote. There’s venom in the wounds. Use it! Now! We can’t suck the poison out, because there’s no guarantee he won’t die from blood loss, or that the one who does it won’t fuck up and ingest some on accident while trying to save him.”
I open the tins so quickly that the lids skitter across the floor, then practically cry out as I hastily scoop out the contents into my hand, “Fucking Christ! How?”
As I start packing as much salve as possible into each wound, Greg explains, “I took two fingers in one of my swipes. Taha must have gotten swiped with that hand, and venom leaked into the wound.”
The tears I’ve been holding back finally break free as I whisper in horror, “Oh, God. Please don’t die on me. Please let this work.”
I feel Greg’s hand on my shoulder, so I choke out, “Open the gauze. I’ll need you to help me wrap him, once I finish making sure this is thick enough. It should both help to staunch the blood flow, and help draw out any infection. If venom is like an infection that kills you guys painfully, hopefully it’ll help draw the poison out. We need to wrap him, though, and I’ll need to change out both the salve and dressing every couple of hours.”
Almost an entire large tin is gone by the time I motion for the gauze, but Greg is on the ball, and immediately moves to help lift Taha Aki’s head. Zander nods, then backs away enough for me to do what’s needed.
I don’t even realize the others have arrived until I’m done wrapping up the great white wolf’s whole chest, and turn to find Zander. He’s already pulled on shorts, watching me worriedly, with the entire pack behind him waiting for word.
My mind and body are both overly tired, all the adrenaline gone now that I’ve done what I can, so my voice comes out as weak as I feel, “Someone make him up a comfortable place to lay by the fire in my room. Someone will need to hunt for him, too, once he’s able to eat. I remember Jake telling me a hunted kill gives you much more energy than human food, and he’ll need it to combat blood loss. You can use the porch off my bedroom for his meals for now, until he’s well enough to hunt on is own.”
Seeing that everyone is paying attention and not spouting crap about it being dangerous, I continue, “We have around twelve hours before a new batch of salve needs to be done, so I’m going to clean up and catch a nap before his bandages and salve need to be changed. I’ll start the new batch once I see how well it’s working, because I made this batch at about 1 ½ times the potency needed for humans. This is a shitty time for trial and error, but I don’t know what strength things need to be for you guys yet. I’d like someone to station in the room with us, to notify me if his condition changes while I’m sleeping.”
Zander nods, then hugs me to him, whispering, “You did an amazing job, Bella. More than any of us could have done for him. You go clean up. I’ll take care of setting perimeter and rotations. Some of the boys will clean this up for you. Greg and I will take shifts watching over you and Taha for now. Where can I find blankets?”
It takes me a second of thinking before I remember, “There should be plenty of extras in the upstairs bedroom closets. If not, check the largest chest in the master loft. If you want any of the boys to sleep now, but still want them close, they’re welcome to the beds. The sheets are clean.”
He nods and kisses the top of my head, “Thanks, little coyote, I’ll let them know. Now go on, before you drop from exhaustion.”
I give him a tired smile as I walk toward the pack, who are crowding in the foyer, but turn long enough to ask, “Zander… tell me the bastard who did this to him is ash.”
He nods seriously, but looks to Aiden, one of the pack. He offers with a deep rumble from his chest, “I didn’t leave until the purple cloying smoke was completely back to normal smoke… just like you taught us. I even double checked by using a large limb to shift around the contents of the fire. Every piece is destroyed.”
I nod, satisfied by Aiden’s answer, then squeeze his hand once before making my way to the master bedroom.
The sight of myself in the bathroom mirror is shocking, to say the least. I look like I stumbled straight out of a gruesome horror film. Blood and black splotches cover me from nearly head to foot, even matting my hair in some places. My clothes are completely ruined, so I strip them off and dump them in a pile in the corner. I still look no better, though, because the blood had soaked through my clothes, staining my skin in a sick smattering of dark red.
I turn on the shower, making the water as hot as I can stand it. As I step under the spray, I can feel the night’s events finally catching up to me. It’s only moments later that the shower fills with the sounds of my hitched and stuttered breathing, my tears mixing with the bloody water flowing down the drain.
It’s been over an hour with no word from Taha Aki or the pack. At first I try to bake away my worry, but when I destroy two batches of pie dough, I give up.
I somehow find myself in Gran Hurit’s medicine room, going through a journal labeled ‘Healing’ as I correlate each jar or bottle on the shelves to its recipe of individual elements. It calms my mind some... allows me to concentrate on something useful, knowing this could potentially help someone in need.
I find several that look promising, but the dates on them have long ago passed. Noting the recipes, I start loading a nearby tray with the ingredients needed, thankful that the pack have been saving me all the useful bits while cleaning up the garden. It takes me three trips from the medicine room to the kitchen, but I finally have all of the ingredients needed for each recipe sorted on the kitchen island. I make one final trip to the medicine room for a stack of nesting double boilers in different sizes.
I start by making 4 types of infused oil, slow simmering different herbs and oils in the double boilers. The whole main floor is soon a cacophony of aromas that seem to calm my frazzled nerves. I smile as I settle easily into this new routine, feeling deep down that this is what I’m meant to do now.
Carefully straining all the infused liquid from the herbs at the 3 hour mark, I return the oils back to their boilers. Shea butter, beeswax, kaolin clay, essential oils, and other ingredients get mixed into their perspective pots, and I hum while alternately mixing each as the butters, beeswax and clay incorporate smoothly.
It’s just as I turn off the last burner that I hear a loud knock coming from near the great room. I spin around quickly, only to see Greg and Zander carrying a bloody and dirt-crusted white wolf in their arms. With a gasp, I rush to the french doors, opening them wide while hurrying them into the house.
“Why didn’t you take him to a healer?! What the fuck, Zander? Has he been bitten?” I screamed, my heart hammering out of my chest in worry for this magnificent wolf.
He growled slightly as the wolf struggled in their arms, then offered, “No, not bitten, but he’s bleeding pretty badly. The wounds need to be cleaned well and stitched before his body will take over. He wouldn’t let us take him to the healer. He only let us carry him back after we promised him we’d bring him to you… only you. Please, little coyote. Use your instincts and help him.”
Looking over Taha Aki carefully, I’m even more worried. He has a long diagonal gash down his underbelly, several smaller ones, and looks like he is losing way more blood than he should. I gasped in shock, then barked at the two coyotes, “Zander, go to the medicine room. On the right side of the room, I labeled a shelf for healing. Grab the medicated thread, the bottle of antiseptic liquid, as much gauze as you can carry, and the two tins of salve farthest to the right. Now!”
He hurries off as Greg lays Taha Aki down in the open space between the dining room and kitchen. I continue, not finished yet as I drop to my knees in front of the injured behemoth of a wolf, “Greg, in the closet of the master bedroom… straight in front of you as you open the door… grab the whole stack of towels. In the top drawer of the vanity in the master bathroom, grab the sewing kit. Bring them to me. Go!”
Zander is just coming back as I finish, so I order him, “Get in the kitchen, because these salves might not work. I was making new ones from Gran Hurit’s recipes while I waited for word. Pour them from the pots into the tins I have lined up on the bar. Just like they are ordered on the stove… front left to front left, back right to back right… and don’t let the liquids mix. If they start to settle before you get them poured, heat them on low until the liquid is no longer cloudy. Make sure the black salve is done first and placed in the freezer to help solidify it. As soon as you have a clear burner, boil me some water in the largest pot from the cupboard next to the stove. Do not use the pots the salve mixtures are in.”
I turn to Greg, who’s waiting for more direction as I start to grab towels to staunch the blood flow, “There’s a big hook shaped needle in there. I need a long strand of the medicated thread doubled, threaded into that needle, and hand me the bottle of antiseptic.”
He quickly does as ordered, then I look deeply into Taha Aki’s pained eyes. “This will burn like hell. I’m sorry, but I need to clean your wounds before I can attempt to stitch you closed. For whatever reason, you chose me to do this. Please… for fuck’s sake... don’t bite me for causing you more pain.”
I look to Greg quickly as I send up a silent prayer to the ancestors, “Don’t waste time going to the woods… back up to a safe distance in here, then phase. I need some way of communication between him and me. If there’s something I’m doing that’s harming him, growl at me. I’ll try to ask you only yes or no questions, but I need your help. I don’t know his body language yet.”
He shakes his head, yelling for Zander, then explains, “I’ll take Zander’s place in the kitchen. Sorry, little coyote, but I’m not alpha… not strong enough. I don’t have the discipline yet, to handle being in an alpha mind in this state.”
He quickly turns to his alpha, who is bringing in a large pot of steaming water and a hot pad. Quickly explaining what I need, Zander nods to Greg, “Gotcha. Go handle the kitchen, and call the others in. I want this house surrounded until he’s well enough to move on his own.”
With that, Zander backs toward the entry several paces, then phases with a loud snarl. He shakes his head as I quickly drop a towel in the hot water, then a pained look contorts his features. He drops down to lay at the head of the white wolf, then whines slightly while giving me a pleading sort of look. I nod, “I know. I’ll do everything I can. Just stay where you are so I can see you while not stepping on you. Prepare him. I need to use the towel I just dunked in the water, then the antiseptic… both will hurt.”
I quickly wring out the towel, not really even noticing how hot it is on my bare hands, then replace the blood soaked towel with the hot one. Taha Aki lets out a yowl, but Zander nods at me. I take that as my sign to continue, carefully using the edges of the towel to clean up his underbelly as much as possible.
Any debris is carefully picked out with the tweezers from the sewing kit. By the time I’m done and have the antiseptic in hand, Greg is back. He takes the blood soaked towels straight toward the laundry, then comes back to kneel next to me. “What can I do?”
I can only say in a shaky tone, “Hold him still,” before taking a deep breath and pouring a liberal amount of antiseptic liquid on his underbelly, paying the most attention to the largest wound. As expected, Taha Aki squirms and lets out an agonizing string of yowls, but it’s Zander’s actions that have me halting my movements.
He leans in and sniffs along the wounds, growls deeply, huffs out a breath, then snarls while looking at Greg. Greg’s eyes go wide, then he hurriedly says, “Shit. That black salve. Will it draw stuff out of the wounds? Is it that type?”
I nod, then he rushes to kitchen. He comes back, practically shoving the tins at me, explaining, “Venom, Little Coyote. There’s venom in the wounds. Use it! Now! We can’t suck the poison out, because there’s no guarantee he won’t die from blood loss, or that the one who does it won’t fuck up and ingest some on accident while trying to save him.”
I open the tins so quickly that the lids skitter across the floor, then practically cry out as I hastily scoop out the contents into my hand, “Fucking Christ! How?”
As I start packing as much salve as possible into each wound, Greg explains, “I took two fingers in one of my swipes. Taha must have gotten swiped with that hand, and venom leaked into the wound.”
The tears I’ve been holding back finally break free as I whisper in horror, “Oh, God. Please don’t die on me. Please let this work.”
I feel Greg’s hand on my shoulder, so I choke out, “Open the gauze. I’ll need you to help me wrap him, once I finish making sure this is thick enough. It should both help to staunch the blood flow, and help draw out any infection. If venom is like an infection that kills you guys painfully, hopefully it’ll help draw the poison out. We need to wrap him, though, and I’ll need to change out both the salve and dressing every couple of hours.”
Almost an entire large tin is gone by the time I motion for the gauze, but Greg is on the ball, and immediately moves to help lift Taha Aki’s head. Zander nods, then backs away enough for me to do what’s needed.
I don’t even realize the others have arrived until I’m done wrapping up the great white wolf’s whole chest, and turn to find Zander. He’s already pulled on shorts, watching me worriedly, with the entire pack behind him waiting for word.
My mind and body are both overly tired, all the adrenaline gone now that I’ve done what I can, so my voice comes out as weak as I feel, “Someone make him up a comfortable place to lay by the fire in my room. Someone will need to hunt for him, too, once he’s able to eat. I remember Jake telling me a hunted kill gives you much more energy than human food, and he’ll need it to combat blood loss. You can use the porch off my bedroom for his meals for now, until he’s well enough to hunt on is own.”
Seeing that everyone is paying attention and not spouting crap about it being dangerous, I continue, “We have around twelve hours before a new batch of salve needs to be done, so I’m going to clean up and catch a nap before his bandages and salve need to be changed. I’ll start the new batch once I see how well it’s working, because I made this batch at about 1 ½ times the potency needed for humans. This is a shitty time for trial and error, but I don’t know what strength things need to be for you guys yet. I’d like someone to station in the room with us, to notify me if his condition changes while I’m sleeping.”
Zander nods, then hugs me to him, whispering, “You did an amazing job, Bella. More than any of us could have done for him. You go clean up. I’ll take care of setting perimeter and rotations. Some of the boys will clean this up for you. Greg and I will take shifts watching over you and Taha for now. Where can I find blankets?”
It takes me a second of thinking before I remember, “There should be plenty of extras in the upstairs bedroom closets. If not, check the largest chest in the master loft. If you want any of the boys to sleep now, but still want them close, they’re welcome to the beds. The sheets are clean.”
He nods and kisses the top of my head, “Thanks, little coyote, I’ll let them know. Now go on, before you drop from exhaustion.”
I give him a tired smile as I walk toward the pack, who are crowding in the foyer, but turn long enough to ask, “Zander… tell me the bastard who did this to him is ash.”
He nods seriously, but looks to Aiden, one of the pack. He offers with a deep rumble from his chest, “I didn’t leave until the purple cloying smoke was completely back to normal smoke… just like you taught us. I even double checked by using a large limb to shift around the contents of the fire. Every piece is destroyed.”
I nod, satisfied by Aiden’s answer, then squeeze his hand once before making my way to the master bedroom.
The sight of myself in the bathroom mirror is shocking, to say the least. I look like I stumbled straight out of a gruesome horror film. Blood and black splotches cover me from nearly head to foot, even matting my hair in some places. My clothes are completely ruined, so I strip them off and dump them in a pile in the corner. I still look no better, though, because the blood had soaked through my clothes, staining my skin in a sick smattering of dark red.
I turn on the shower, making the water as hot as I can stand it. As I step under the spray, I can feel the night’s events finally catching up to me. It’s only moments later that the shower fills with the sounds of my hitched and stuttered breathing, my tears mixing with the bloody water flowing down the drain.